Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
WISCONSIN
Falcons Fall To Badgers, 56-42, In Season Opener
September 03, 2005 | Football
Sept. 3, 2005
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Brian Calhoun, a transfer from Colorado, rushed for a career-best 258 yards and a school record-tying five touchdowns on 43 carries in Wisconsin's 56-42 win over Bowling Green on Saturday.
Calhoun's first three scores came during a 35-point second quarter eruption, the biggest in Barry Alvarez's 16 seasons as coach. But his shortest score might have been his biggest.
It snapped a 35-35 halftime tie and set the tone for a vastly different second half after the defenses had been shredded for 10 touchdowns.
The 98 points were the second-most ever scored at Camp Randall Stadium, trailing only the Badgers' 106-0 shutout of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1890.
With eight new starters on defense, the Badgers had a tough time slowing Bowling Green's prolific passer, junior Omar Jacobs, who picked up right where he left off last year (4,002 yards passing with 41 touchdowns and just four interceptions) by racking up 305 yards passing and four touchdowns in the first half.
But after Calhoun's fourth TD made it 42-35, Jacobs misfired on his first five passes and was sacked twice as the Falcons generated just a single yard of offense in the third quarter.
He finished 30-for-51 for 458 yards, five TD passes and one interception.
Booker Stanley (103 yards on 14 carries), scampered 15 yards for a score and Calhoun's 9-yard run made it 56-35 before Jacobs regained his rhythm, throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass to Charles Sharon with 10:16 remaining that made it 56-42.
Jacobs' TD tosses of 17 yards to Corey Partridge and 18 to B.J. Lane gave the Falcons a 13-0 lead. After Jonathan Orr's 21-yard touchdown catch from John Stocco on the first play of the second quarter, Jacobs connected with Steve Sanders for a 63-yard touchdown just 16 seconds later that made it 20-7.
The Badgers struck back even faster.
Brandon Williams, who needed 46 yards to break Nick Davis' school record for career kickoff return yardage, returned the kickoff 85 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the 8 by linebacker Terrel White. And fullback Matt Bernstein bullied his way 8 yards up the middle for the score.
Calhoun's 20-yard TD on fourth down gave the Badgers a 21-20 lead and he added a shifty, 5-yard scoring run to make it 28-20.
Falcons running back P.J. Pope was hit from behind while blocking on the ensuing kickoff and he left the game with a sprained left ankle. The Falcons drove 77 yards without him and Lane's 5-yard TD combined with Jacobs' 2-point toss to Partridge tied it at 28.
Calhoun scored again from 5 yards out with 41 seconds left in the half, but Jacobs drove the Falcons 83 yards in just 33 seconds to tie it at 35 with a 10-yard toss to Sanders.
Calhoun had 143 yards rushing by halftime, surpassing his previous career best of 137, set against Nebraska in 2002.
